Travel Photo Roulette 69 – come play!

Results are in

This was a very difficult decision. So many remarkable trees from around the world. To help decide the winner, I enlisted the help of my daughters. Not that it helped much. We picked three different winners. Honourable mentions therefore go to Alexandra‘s favourite, Divergent travelers‘ sunlight through the branches in Brussels, and Catarina‘s favourite, Round the World with Deb‘s trees as seen from 5 metres underwater.

However, I’m da boss. The winner of Travel Photo Roulette 69 is this photo:

I really like the gliding transitions here. Where does reality end and the mirror image begin…? Mystical – and a bit dangerous. All with that melancholic late autumn mood.

Congratulations to Lydian at Shoutography! Look forward to seeing what you come up with for round 70.

Travel Photo Roulette 69

Heard of the blogger game known as Travel Photo Roulette? I hadn’t until last week. Travel Photo Roulette was started by Jeremy at Living the Dream as a way for travel bloggers to showcase their photography. Fun stuff, folks, so read on.

Last round of photo roulette was all about weird foods and hosted by the fabulous GypsyNesters. This photo won me the honour of hosting round 69 of this friendly game:

Torched lamb’s head, a Christmas speciality in Western Norway

Now, on to travel photo roulette 69. The theme:

TREES

In this somewhat dreary month I love snapping photos of trees. November trees are frequently naked and skeletal, and I particularly like to shoot them in black and white. But sometimes winter comes late, even in these northerly parts, and trees may still look like this:

Now I want to see your trees. And just for fun, let’s keep interpretation of the theme wide open.

Wanna play travel photo roulette 69?

Here’s the skinny: Winner of the last round of Travel Photo Roulette (let’s call him/her X) hosts the next round on their blog. X picks a theme and invites players to submit photos over the course of one week. At the end of the week, X decides the winning entry. Repeat! Couldn’t be easier.

Rules

One submission per blog

Post processing, cropping, correcting for red eyes and other flaws is fine for this round.

Abstract submissions are welcome. But if you want to win, it’s probably best that the judge understands your interpretation.

Hosts should keep themes general so all bloggers can participate. Avoid specifics like ‘Eiffel Tower’; instead choose a more open theme, like ‘monuments’ or ‘monuments at night’.

Abstract thoughts can be fun, as long as everyone can understand. ‘Overlooking creation’ is good, ‘Kafkaesque’ is not.

No obscene photos or themes allowed. Suggestive themes and photography might be accepted, but be careful. Remember, the host is all-powerful.

Themes may be reused after a period of time; however new photos must be submitted. Keep it fresh!

You do not have to take the photo within the week of the contest period to submit it.

Most importantly: ALL PHOTOS MUST BE YOUR OWN.

Spread the word about Travel Photo Roulette and use the hashtag #PhotoRoulette.

Last, but not least: It’s a game, so have fun with it.

How to submit

Entering is easy. Just leave a comment below with a link to the image you’d like to submit and a caption or description. We’ll then add the image to the submissions. Images may be reduced in size to fit the site layout of Sophie’s World.

Do come back during the week to have a look at the competition and join in the conversation.

The contest begins today and ends in one week, i.e. you can submit until 15 November is over wherever in the world you are. The winner will be announced shortly thereafter and they will host Travel Photo Roulette round 70.

Past winners and hosts

As you can see, this game has been going on for a while. Here are all the rounds so far. The list is a winners’ table as well, as each topic host won the preceding round. Click the host’s link to go directly to that entry to see fab photos of the chosen theme.

The Entries

The Buddha in the Bodhi Tree, in Ayutthaya in Thailand – so amazing! This buddha was part of the ancient temple that was looted – and this head was dropped as the thieves made their departure, so the story goes. The head landed here, and in all the years that have passed, the boddhi tree has grown up and around it….

The Arbol bandera, or flag tree, a name stemming from the shape it’s given by the relentless pounding of ceaseless wind. Near the Estancia Harberton on the Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. About 85 km east of Ushuaia.

White Sands National Monument is a blinding alien landscape with giant shifting dunes of pure white gypsum sand. I became obsessed with this lone tree, I’m always amazed when life finds a way to flourish.

While traveling through Northern Myanmar we came across thousands of temples. While in the mountain town of Hsipaw, we came across a temple that had accidentally been built on the top of a small tree hundreds of years ago. Fast forward to today, and the tree has now over-taken the temple and sprouted through the top for the world to see. The temple is known now to locals simply as, The Tree Temple.

Just outside the beautiful town of Salento, Colombia lies the Cocora Valley, which is filled with the other worldly wax palm trees. Nestled in the bright green valleys, standing over 30m (100ft) tall, and surrounded by the clouds, they make hiking through this valley worth the trip to Colombia alone! One of my favorite shots from the hike catches the true perspective of these massive trees.

During a back-country camping trip in the Rocky Mountains – we came across this beautiful lake at about 10,000ft above sea level. Paused our hike to enjoy the view and for some quick yoga. Doing “Tree Pose” (Vrksasana) amongst the giant pine Trees.

I took it in Sintra, Portugal. The trees there are very special as years ago, the royalty brought many species from other continents and now there’s a great variety of exotic trees growing there. It’s a very green place!

This was taken from 5 meters below the surface at an amazing dive site called the Passage in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, which is a river-like sea fjord between 2 small islands, where the tree canopies from the limestone karsts above often close above it, with gigantic sea fans almost reaching over the surface.

This picture was taken while I was hiking through Huerquehue National Park near Pucon, Chile, where we came across ‘Lago Chico’, a little lake at the end of our route. The locals also refer to the lake as ‘the place of the messenger’. The image of the reflection of the trees in the water somehow matched the mystical name the locals give the lake.

This was a tough one to narrow down, but ultimately I have to go with one of my favorite shots in Sequoia National Park…driving back to my campsite on a crystal clear night the stars were peeking through the canopy of the largest living organisms on the planet and I took this photo through my sunroof.

I love tress to the point that I took study of a tree outside of my parents kitchen window. It is a pear tree, there is something magical about this tree and I take picture of it for past 3 year every single time i think it looks beautiful, this one has been taken two winters ago.

Ohhh, I totally should have explained more! This buddha was part of the ancient temple that was looted – and this head was dropped as the thieves made their departure, so the story goes. The head landed here, and in all the years that have passed, the boddhi tree has grown up and around it….

Happy to get the ball rolling with this shot, an Arbol bandera, or flag tree, a name stemming from the shape it’s given by the relentless pounding of ceaseless wind. Near the Estancia Harberton on the Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. About 85 km east of Ushuaia.

White Sands National Monument is a blinding alien landscape with giant shifting dunes of pure white gypsum sand. I became obsessed with this lone tree, I’m always amazed when life finds a way to flourish.

While traveling through Northern Myanmar we came across thousands of temples. While in the mountain town of Hsipaw, we came across a temple that had accidentally been built on the top of a small tree hundreds of years ago. Fast forward to today, and the tree has now over-taken the temple and sprouted through the top for the world to see. The temple is known now to locals simply as, The Tree Temple.

Just outside the beautiful town of Salento, Colombia lies the Cocora Valley, which is filled with the other worldly wax palm trees. Nestled in the bright green valleys, standing over 30m (100ft) tall, and surrounded by the clouds, they make hiking through this valley worth the trip to Colombia alone!

One of my favorite shots from the hike catches the true perspective of these massive trees.

I took it in Sintra, Portugal. The trees there are very special as years ago, the royalty brought many species from other continents and now there’s a great variety of exotic trees growing there. It’s a very green place!

I love trees too. Was particularly struck by an ancient Lime Tree in the courtyard of the Hohenzollern fortress in Salzburg a couple of weeks back, particularly dressed in autumn splendour – it’s the 6th photo from the top…

This was taken from 5 meters below the surface at an amazing dive site called the Passage in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, which is a river-like sea fjord between 2 small islands, where the tree canopies from the limestone karsts above often close above it, with gigantic sea fans almost reaching over the surface.

Nice theme, Sophie! I feel it’s always somewhat challenging to make good photos of trees, but see some nice ones submitted already.

This picture was taken while I was hiking through Huerquehue National Park near Pucon, Chile, where we came across ‘Lago Chico’, a little lake at the end of our route. The locals also refer to the lake as ‘the place of the messenger’. The image of the reflection of the trees in the water somehow matched the mystical name the locals give the lake.

This was a tough one to narrow down, but ultimately I have to go with one of my favorite shots in Sequoia National Park…driving back to my campsite on a crystal clear night the stars were peeking through the canopy of the largest living organisms on the planet and I took this photo through my sunroof.

Hello Sophie I know it is late, but I have just got back from my travels and I saw your subject, I have decided to try as I can see there is no winner yet….

I love tress to the point that I took study of a tree outside of my parents kitchen window. It is a pear tree, there is something magical about this tree and I take picture of it for past 3 year every single time i think it looks beautiful, this one has been taken two winters ago.

Thanks everyone! I’m very honoured to have won this round with all the other great photos that were submitted. I’m still debating the theme for next round, but will make a decision on it one of these days. Can’t wait to see your entries!

Hello everyone, Travel photo roulette no. 70 is now up with the theme Party! Come join and submit your picture by this Saturday to make a chance to be the winner of this round. Please spread the word using #Photoroulette. Thanks! Can’t wait to see your entries!http://www.shoutography.com/2013/11/22/travel-photo-roulette-70/